Well, we are going to be proffesional lunch-makers for Munchkin. After having read about some fancy egg-shapers in an blog for parents, I had to check them out myself, so I ran to eBay. And of course, eBay did not let me down, and I found the egg-shapers as well as tons of other stuff you need to have in order to make creative and lovely lunch boxes to your offspring. After having browsed and compared I finally decided on these: 
Additionally, as Munchkin is a small rice-fiend, these can also be used to make fun-shaped rice-balls. How fun is that. Kiddy-style sushi!
I bought the egg-shapers from ctriasha on eBay, and they set me back $6 and $3 for shipping from Japan (all the way from Jaaaapaaaan).
… and this one makes a car, a boat, a lorry, and a bus (methinks, the picture wasn’t too clear). Munchkin is going to love me! These ones were bought from kaczan*bento on eBay, and set me back $3,49 a piece, so $6,98 total for both, and $6,98 for shipping all the way from Hong Kong.
And of course, then mummy had to buy something as well. So I ended up with three Konad image plates. The real stuff this time, and not fauxnad. So far I am quite happy with my fauxnad, and I am sure I will purchase more of them, as they are a fraction of the cost of the real Konad. But, I really wanted some designs that covered the whole nails, and I couldn’t really find any fauxnad which did that. Fauxnad tend to be shipped on random, so the pictures shown on eBay might not be the image plates you are actually receiving. I had a look at Bundle Monster, and they do have som designs which are supposed to cover the whole nail, but there are several comments around about how small they are, and how they don’t cover the whole nail. So, therefore decided to shell out for some proper konads with BIG designs :-).
I put on a base coat and then a light metalic blue over the whole nail. I love this polish and have used it a lot. In the picture it doesn’t seem like the bottle I am holding is the same one as the one I am wearing on my nails, but it is.
Finally I stamped on blue flowers using the fauxnad, and then adding some rhinestones to the middle of the flowers.
I do like it. It’s a bit understated while giving the impression of a complicated mani. But, am not soo sure about the rhinestones. I love the idea of rhinestones, but am not too happy about the 3-D quality of them. I like my nails to be flat, lest they snag on everything and the stones fall off.
I bought new nail polish from elf, and I got some rhinestones from eBay. The rhinestones set me back $1,53 and $4 for shipping for 3600 stones in different colors. Yup, you heard me :-). I am addicted to eBay now. I'll find stuff I didn't even know existed, and they all cost a pittance, and is shipped free from Hong Kong. So amazing!! |
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Inspired by my younger brother’s soon to arrive first child I knew I had to make her something awesome! In addition, when I asked my younger brother whether or not they liked knitted stuff, he answered rather diplomatic (or not so) that they liked *insert pause* quality… Which I assume is he’s way of telling me that he do not quite think me able to make something of “quality”.
Which of course just made me even more determined to shower knitted stuff over my little niece as soon as she enters this world. But, I knew that my first gift had to be amazing! IT. HAD. TO.
After researching a bit I decided on Drops Extra Fine Merino, as it is just so so soft and it doesn’t need to be handwashed. Got to love that for new parents. Actually, I can’t really understand why you have to handwash most babywool. I mean, if there is anyone who need to be able to just stuff clothes into the washer it has to be new parents.
Anyway, a while ago I came over this beautiful beautiful pattern, Latvian Garden Baby Blanket. Not to be deferred by the fact that I hardly have ever knitted with multiple strands of yarn, nor have made anything requiring a steek, nor lined any knitting beforehand, I decided that this would be the perfect gift for the newborn.
This blanket is on tiny tiny 2,5mm needles. And I am quite apprehensive about making a whole – WHOLE – blanket using such tiny needles. I love the way the pattern looks when using tiny needles, but the time people, the time! But alas, nothing but the best for new (and only) niece to come.
I have knitted two repeats of the heart pattern and am already feeling bored. I mean, the blanket is going to be beautiful – for sure. I chose natural white for background color, lavender for the hearts, and limegreen for the pattern in the middle. And so far it looks lovely. But it is so boring…
So, decided to cast on something that can be knitted without having to think so much. Because of the different colors and tension and whatnot, the blanket is quite a mental exhausting task for a novice such as myself. So, decided to cast on Steggie in wool for Munchkin. I wouldn’t really claim the Steggie to be a mindless knit, but as I made one earlier this summer I am pretty sure this one won’t take to much thinking on my behalf. Which is perfect.
I got a USB man from Sony Ericsson through a jobevent for a month or so ago, and isn’t he just the coolest.
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The head pops off and voila, usb stick!
Anyway, out with the emasuring tape and lots of breath holding (because of the anticipation and excitement, not to try to hold my tummy in) and lo and behold, I had lost 4 cm around my waist. Did you get that?? FOUR CENTIMETERS!!!! That's lots!! Minus 3 cm around my ribs, and minus 3 from my hips. I am so excited and happy!!! So it does work!
I have felt good all day, thinking that maybe the bad symptoms were gone for good, but that was untill now. Am feeling the headache coming on and the tiredness. Ouch. But what can I do, obviously a girl has to suffer to reach her skinny happy self, or at least more so than now.
It wasn't so much my constant thinking about anything with carbs, because although it still feels hard and I am salvating thinking about all the yummy carbs that I will be able to eat next week, I was good yesterday - foodwise that is.
I've read that a couple of days in, when you hit ketosis, you can feel really unwell and have quite bad headaches. I hope this was it though, and that it will pass soon. - Ouch, just read an article saying that the symptoms of ketosis can last up to a week!! That is so not good :-(Another day is over. It is still hard. But, I didn’t really think it would be otherwise.
At lunch they served taco, which almost broke me. But I stood strong and only had taco meat with sour cream, cheese, and guacemole.
For dinner we had oven baked mackerell with steamed cabbage and homemade hollandaise sauce. That’s my first time making that sauce, and I was quite impressed with myself. It was a tad tart, but still lovely and suprisingly fluffy. More like a dip than a sauce.
Snacked on baconcrisp during the night before bed.
8am. Arrived at my desk at work and found a bag of dried apricots. Opened it and bit into one. Froze. Had a quick debate in my head whether or not dried apricots were allowed this week. Decided they were. Decided they weren’t. Spat out the apricot. Hid the bag behind the computer screen.
10am. Spent most of the morning trying to decide if I could or could not, whether I would or would not eat crisp bread for lunch. Decided that one wouldn’t hurt. Decided it would. Decided it wouldn’t. Decided it would. Decided it wouldn’t. Decided it would. Decided it wouldn’t. Decided it would. Decided it wouldn’t. Decided it would. Decided it wouldn’t. Decided it would.
11am. Went for lunch. Had a small salad with three meatballs, a bit of tunasalad and an egg. Looked at the crisp bread. Thought It’s just one week. One week is doable. Walked away. Felt very good about myself.
1pm. Felt that since I had been so good I could have a dried apricot. After all, it was just an apricot, It wasn’t like it was a piece of bread or a potato. Reached for the apricots. Hesitated. Kept repeating to myself It’s just one week. It’s just one week. You can do this for one week. Pushed the bag away.
2pm. Discovered the apricots again. Made a rash decision and threw them all in the trash. Felt very good about myself.
2.05pm. Decided that throwing out the apricots were a really bad idea. Repeated It’s just a week. You can do one week. Next week you can eat all the apricots you can.
5pm. Came home, found out hubby had made dinner. Thai curry with carrots and mushrooms. And rice. Grateful that hubby had cooked, slightly miffed that he hadn’t cooked something more LCHF. Remembered that I hadn’t told him about my experiment. Concluded I couldn’t blame him then.
5.25pm. Discovered the giant chocolate hubby had bought an dput in the fridge.
5.26-6pm. Thought about the chocolate.
6pm. Had curry for dinner. Skipped the rice. Yummy!
7pm. Snukout in the kitchen, opened the fridge and had a long look at the chocolate. Debated whether or not LCHF was pointless or not. If it was pointless it meant that I could have chocolate.
7.25pm. Skulked out to the livingroom, repeating to myself It’s just a week. You can eat chocolate next week. You won’t die if you don’t eat chocolate for one week. Felt very very good about myself.
10pm. Felt hungry again. Had three soft boiled eggs and three slices of bologna with tiny bit of mayonaise on.
All in all. Not the best day, but happy I made it so far. Feel very discouraging that it is so hard. Anyway, one down, six to go!
I find myself to be a very inconsistent blogger. Both timewise, I don’t blog as often as I would like to, and regarding my voice. With the first clearly being a result of the second. As I haven’t really found my voice yet, I find it hard to blog, although I really really like to do it more. But, I haven’t quite figured out what to blog about. Lately it has been a lot about my crafts, such as knitting and suchlike, or about food, or this or that. As I’m not sure whether that’s what I want to blog about, I tend to write posts about stuff months after they happen, thus ending more up with dull summarys rather than interesting blogs.
This all comes down to my idea, right or wrong, that blogs should have a clear voice and topic. Most of the blogs I find interesting do have a very clear theme and voice. I know what I am getting.
But I would like to blog more. So maybe my own expectations, to which I am failing terribly, are the problems. Maybe if I just forget about finding my voice and my topic before I blog I will blog more. So I guess that’s what I am going to try.
As I have mentioned earlier I have been trying out LCHF lately without much success. I guess because I wasn’t able to commit to it fully. I would eat mostly LCHF, but then I would have a slip-up and eat something with carbs. the slip-ups weren’t big, so I convinced myself that they didn’t matter, and that lots of people lost lots of weight even though they didn’t give up carbs completely. Well, a couple of months down the road I am exactly the same size, and I guess the same weight (no bath scale). But this isn’t so. As with most diets you can’t both ahve your cake and eat it too.
I think my problem is such a common one. I get too focused on the long-term goal. Wanting it to happen by this evening. With minimal efforts. If I have been good the whole morning, then I feel entitled to cheat a little in the evening. And then, by then end of the week, there is no change sizewise, prompting me to have a snack of something that I shouldn’t because, a) I feel bad about myself, b) I will be good again tomorrow, and c) it doesn’t matter anyway because obviously this diet doesn’t work on me as I conveniently forget all the late evening cheats. The mere thought of never eating carbs again is pretty daunting, scary even. Thus making it too easy to just have this one, and this one, and this one, and then be good tomorrow.
So, trying to combat this I will focus on small and short. Yes, small is good! So, starting tomorrow I will try to see what happens if I eat strictly LCHF for one week. One week is doable, I should be am able to commit to one week, I would be able to can give up carbs completely for one week. It’s just a week. If it turned out to have been to hard I can always go back to carbs after that one week. One week is nothing! So, I have taken out my measuring tape and I will measure myself tonight, and then again next sunday evening. Wish me luck!
The very first time I had avacado shake was in a bowlinghall run by a vietnamese. This was more or less the first time I had avacado, so I still didn’t have the notion that most westerners have that avacado is to be used in savory dishes. Later I have come to realise how odd most westerners think this shake is, but it is still one of my favourite one. I am sure that my recipe is nothing like the original as I have made mine by guessing and tasting later on.
Normally I would blend one ripe avacado with some sweet condenced milk in a blender (mushin it up with a fork and stirring the milk in also works if no blender is available). Just like this it is very thick and almost pudding-like. I have plans of making this into some kind of dessert, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Anyway, then I add some milk until it’s pourable, and pour it into a tall glass full of ice. Drink with a straw. Yummy!!!
If no condenced milk is available, the avacado can be blended (or mushed) with normal milk and sugar to taste.
As LCHF has banned milk I blend my avacado with cream and water and add a bit of artificial sweetener to it. Into a tall glass with ice. This is so good, and I am quite happy about being able to drink this to my heart’s content. Wanderbaby, which is 20 months now, has also a taste for this drink, and will come running with an open mouth like a hungry babybird as soon as he sees the green shake.
I have struggled a bit (read: LOTS) with my weight after my son was born, and have been constantly trying to lose it without really committing to any weightloss diet. But this will end now! The kilos will be banished in this household, and I will emerge new and shiny and thin! Well, that’s the plan at least.
I have read a bit about LCHF and am quite intruiged by it. The idea that one can eat cream and cheese and avacado and sour cream, and still lose weight seem like a dream come true. Now, it does seem to be a bit far between the ones that have lost heaps on this diet though, in most forums and blogs the other health benefits are more emphasised. Which, to be honest, I couldn’t care less about! I mean, I like to think I care about my health, but as for now, I care more about shedding some weight.
Anyway, so I have decided to give it a go. The first thing I noticed was that it is quite a pricey diet. Meat, veggies, cream, cheese, and such are much more expensive than rice, potatoes, and bread. We have always been a bit frugal with money in this household (which would mean that I am frugal, and hubby doesn’t have much say in the matter), so the increase in food expenses really irks me. But it will be all worth it when the new and shiny and thin me emerges from all the fat and cheese and cream.
I was playing around with my new-ish camera (the oh-so-lovely Canon SX1) at a friends house. I have this fascination with taking pictures in macro mode, and was quite pleased with the results. Should mention though that I haven’t been able to take anything like it later. Just can’t seem to get that stuff into focus. On another note, my Oh-so-lovely camera decided that it will only work if it is held perfectly level, which does not happen, so have now been handed in to the repair shop to get a stern talking to.
This is a sentence which to this very day rubs me slightly the wrong way. Not that people say that to me now. Thankfully. I am obviously old enough these days to have whatever needs to be explained explained to me (and pretty good at understanding subtexts on my own, thus removing a fair bit of needing to explain). But, thinking back on all the times I were told this by one of my parents, I feel somehow… cheated! I can remember that even at that time, I knew they wouldn’t, they wouldn’t explain it to me when I got older. Because at which time it would have been forgotten. I should have written it down, every one of the jokes I didn’t get, all the punchlines which no one wanted to explain to me then, I should have written them all down. And when I did get older I should have taken them out and had them explain them to me. Because they said they would.
For a couple of weeks, months even, I would store the punchline or jokes inside me, and every now and then ask for it to be explained. But I never got old enough fast enough. Sooner or later I would forget, and the next time I thought about my parents owing me some explaining, I could never really remember what they were supposed to explain.
I am aware that if I did remember now, or if I had written it down, it would not have been anything very interesting. But still I do feel cheated somehow. When I think of it I get this annoyed itch inside of me. I get this urge to call my dad up, to call my mum up, to make them do all the explaining they once promised to me that they would.
I am slowly building up a stockpile of decorations and other stuff to put around the house for holidays and suchlike. When you start from scratch and have a limited budget… well, these things take time. But, this year addition towards the easterbasket was crocheted easter chicks. I just thought Eggy – The Cute Chick was sooo adorable.
And if that wasn’t enough, we even got some really cute eggs to hang in the window.
